Fresh Ink: An Anthology

Fiction | Short Story Collection | Middle Grade | Published in 2018

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“Why I Learned to Cook”Chapter Summaries & Analyses

“Why I Learned to Cook” Summary

Yasman, or “Yasi,” an Iranian American teen whose father and grandmother grew up in Iran, is the story’s narrator. Her girlfriend, Hannah, pushes to meet Yasi’s grandmother. Yasi goes to her grandmother’s each week for dinner but has yet to take Hannah. Yasi admits that it’s partly because she hasn’t yet told her grandmother that she’s bisexual and partly because she thinks it would be “weird” to talk about romantic partners with her grandmother.

That week, Hannah goes to her grandmother’s house to eat with her and her friend. Her grandmother explains that her father came to the US first and then got a green card for her when his father died. When Hannah texts Yasi during dinner, Yasi decides that she wants to learn how to cook for her and asks her grandmother for help.

On Sunday, Yasi and her grandmother go shopping. When her grandmother struggles in line to use her card’s chip to pay, the cashier becomes rude, as does the woman in line behind them. Yasi apologizes. In the car, however, her grandmother scolds her, telling her that she “exist[s] and [she] shouldn’t have to be sorry for that,” telling Yasi that “as a woman, you have to know that. Don’t ever apologize for who you are” (94).

Yasi spends the next two months learning to cook and accompanying her grandma to the ethnic food markets, which she enjoys because it makes her grandmother feel at home. During that time, she likes hearing from her grandmother about how she used to prepare the dishes in Iran and what it was like to cook with her own mother.

One day, after she spends the afternoon cooking dinner, Yasi invites Hannah to dinner. While Yasi finishes making dinner, her grandmother and Hannah talk in the living room. Yasi’s grandmother says how much she likes Hannah and begins to question Hannah about who texts Yasi so often and why her face is always so red. Hannah says she doesn’t know and changes the subject, but not before Yasi’s grandmother realizes that it’s Hannah herself.

Yasi’s grandmother then speaks to Yasi in Farsi, telling her that she used to cook for Yasi’s grandfather and that he would lie and say everything was good even when it wasn’t. She tells Yasi that her “dinner is good because it was made with love” (99). She then turns to Hannah and tells her that she’s welcome next week and anytime. Yasi wipes tears from her eyes and smiles at Hannah, who laughs with relief.

“Why I Learned to Cook” Analysis

Through the character of Yasi and her bisexual orientation, this story introduces The Complications of Young Love as a theme. From the story’s opening, it’s clear that Yasi and her girlfriend, Hannah, care deeply for each other. As Yasi explains in the opening line of the story, “Making out with Hannah Michaud was the most glorious thing to have ever happened in the history of the world” (86). She then discusses how she always blushes around her, how everything in their relationship is “exciting” and “new,” and how they attend each other’s sporting events and exhibits. However, what complicates the situation for Yasi is the fact that she regularly spends time with her grandmother but is unsure about how to come out to her as bisexual. In her words, she “[is]n’t sure how [her] grandmother would react” (88), both to the idea of her being with a girl and, more importantly, to her being romantic with anyone at all, especially someone from another cultural background. These two issues (that their relationship is queer and that cultural differences exist between the two) are two common complications that people face in romantic relationships. For Yasi, who spends every Friday night at dinner with her grandmother but feels that she can’t invite Hannah, this splits two major parts of her life. However, her feelings prove to be unfounded.

Cooking plays an important role in the story, symbolizing Yasi’s grandmother’s connection to her roots and their Iranian history. This symbolism conveys The Importance of Cultural Roots as a theme. Each Friday, Yasi continues the tradition that most of her family has abandoned and visits her grandmother, where they eat her Iranian cooking and often speak in Farsi. When Yasi asks about learning to cook, her grandmother expresses excitement, telling her that she “never thought this day would come” (92). Over the following weeks, Yasi regularly goes to the ethnic food markets with her grandmother, realizing that these are places where her grandmother can be comfortable with her ethnicity. Yasi explains,

When Grandma would ask where the limoo torshi was at the Armenian grocery, no one would bat an eye, but rather lead her to […] shelves full of items from different countries, all to remind the shoppers of their favorite dishes from places they or their relatives had connection to (95).

In most US grocery stores, Yasi and her grandmother often received strange looks and questions if they asked for foods unique to their Iranian culture. However, the ethnic food market makes her grandmother feel at home, and she can get ingredients and cook as a way to connect with her past. In the story’s conclusion, Yasi’s grandmother explains to her that she also cooked for her husband, Yasi’s grandfather, but that even when the food was terrible, he said “it was delicious because [she] put so much love into it” (99). Similarly, Yasi’s grandmother sees how much love Yasi puts into the meal for Hannah, reflecting her love for Hannah. The title, “Why I Learned to Cook,” reflects this love: Yasi learned to cook not only as a way to show her love for Hannah but also to become closer to her grandmother and her cultural roots. People in many cultures bond over cooking.